Landslide victory
A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome. The term became popular in the 19th century to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geological landslide buries whatever is in its path. A landslide victory for one party is often accompanied by an electoral wipeout for the opposition, as the overwhelming support for the winning side inflicts a decisive loss on its rivals. What qualifies as a landslide victory can vary depending on the type of electoral system, as the term does not entail a precise, technical, or universally agreed-upon measurement. Instead, it is used informally in everyday language, making it subject to interpretation. Even within a single electoral system, there is no consensus on the exact margin that constitutes a landslide victory.
A landslide victory implies a powerful expression of popular will and a ringing endorsement by the electorate for the winner’s political platform. A landslide can be viewed by a winning candidate or party as a mandate or a tacit authorization from the public to implement their proposed policies and pursue their agenda with confidence. Emboldened by the result, the winner may undertake ambitious reforms or significant policy shifts to reflect the electorate’s desire for meaningful change. However, it can also indicate deep political polarization in an electorate or an unfair election.
A combination of factors, including charismatic leadership, a favorable shift in public sentiment driven by dissatisfaction with or support for the status quo, strategic electoral campaigning and a positive media portrayal, can create the conditions necessary for a landslide victory. A landslide may fundamentally reshape the political landscape of a country; one example of this phenomenon is D. Roosevelt">Democratic Party (United States)">D. Roosevelt's election as US president in 1932. In a post-landslide scenario, a winning party can sometimes implement its policies with little resistance, while its severely weakened opposition may struggle to perform essential checks and balances.
Notable examples
Australia
Local and mayoral elections:- 2008 [Brisbane City Council election] – The Liberal Party won a landslide victory over the Labor Party|Labor Party]. Campbell Newman was re-elected Lord Mayor of Brisbane with 66.1% of the two-party-preferred vote, with a swing of 13.7%. The LNP won 16 of the 26 wards.
- 2021 Mandurah City Council election – Rhys Williams was re-elected Mayor of Mandurah with 85% of the vote.
- 2021 Western Australian state election – Mark McGowan led the Labor Party to win 53 out of the 59 seats in the lower house. The Labor Party had a primary vote of 59.92% and a two-party-preferred vote of 69.68%. The National Party won 4 seats and the Liberal Party won 2 seats, making the National Party the official opposition, the first time they had held this status since the 1940s. To date, the election is the most decisive result at any Australian state or federal election since Federation, in terms of both percentage of lower house seats controlled by the governing party and two-party preferred margin.
Canada
Landslide victories may also occur during provincial elections, and territorial elections in Yukon. Landslide victories are not possible for territorial elections in the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, as its members are elected without reference to political parties, operating as a consensus government.
National landslide victories
The following Canadian federal elections resulted in landslide victories:- 1917 – The Conservatives, led by Robert Borden, won 153 seats and gained a majority of 14, while the Liberals, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won just 82.
- 1935 – The Liberals, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, won 171 seats and gained a majority of 50, while the Conservatives, led by R. B. Bennett, won just 39.
- 1940 – The Liberals, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, won 179 seats and gained a majority of 56 seats while Conservative Party of Canada|the Progressive Conservatives], led by Robert James Manion, won just 39.
- 1949 – The Liberals, led by Louis St. Laurent, won 191 seats and gained a majority of 59, while the Progressive Conservatives, led by George A. Drew, won just 41.
- 1958 – The Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, won 208 seats and gained a majority of 75, while the Liberals, led by Lester B. Pearson, won just 48.
- 1968 – The Liberals, lead by Pierre Trudeau, won 155 seats and gained a majority of 21, while the Progressive Conservatives, lead by Robert Stanfield won just 72.
- 1984 – The Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, won 211 seats and gained a majority of 69, while the Liberals, led by John Turner, won just 40. Mulroney is the only prime minister to have won a majority of seats in every single province.
- 1993 – The Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, won 177 seats and gained a majority of 29, while the Bloc Québecois, led by Lucien Bouchard, which ran only in Quebec, won 54. The ruling Progressive Conservatives, led by Kim Campbell, won just 2.
- 2011 – The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, won 166 seats and gained a majority of 11, while the NDP, led by Jack Layton, a perennial 3rd party finished second with 103. The Liberals, led by Michael Ignatieff, won just 34.
- 2015 – The Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau, won 184 seats and gained a majority of 14, while the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, won just 99.
Jamaica
- 2020 Jamaican general election – The Jamaica Labour Party led by Andrew Holness was re-elected after winning a supermajority in Parliament.
New Zealand
First past the post
- – The Liberals won 51 seats and 57.8% of the vote while the Conservatives won 13 seats and just 24.5% of the vote.
- – The Liberals won 49 seats and 52.7% of the vote while the Conservatives won 19 seats and just 36.6% of the vote.
- – The Liberals won 58 seats and 53.1% of the vote while the Conservatives won 16 seats and just 29.7% of the vote.
- – The Reform Party won 55 seats while the Labour & Liberal parties won just 23 seats combined.
- – The Labour Party won 53 seats while the Coalition won just 19 seats.
- – The Labour Party won 53 seats while the National Party won just 25 seats.
- – The National Party won 67 seats while the Labour Party won just 29 seats.
Samoa
- 2006 – The Human Rights Protection Party, led by Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, won a landslide victory, winning 33 seats, an increase of ten. The main opposition party, the new Samoa Democratic United Party, won 10 seats.
- 2016 – The Human Rights Protection Party, led by Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, won by a landslide victory, winning 35 of the 49 seats in the Legislative Assembly, gaining six seats. The main opposition party, the Tautua Samoa Party only won two seats, losing 11 seats. Independents won 13 seats.
United Kingdom
Large majorities, however, are not always the advantage they appear to be. Anthony Seldon gives a number of examples of the infighting that can arise from large majorities. He claims that a "sweet spot" parliamentary majority of 35-50 seats is enough to protect from by-elections and still comfortably pass legislation.
Notable landslide election results
- 1906 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman led his Liberal Party to victory over Arthur Balfour's Conservative Party who lost more than half their seats, including his own seat in Manchester East, as a result of the large national swing to the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party won 397 seats and a majority of 124 seats, while the Conservative Party were left with 156 seats.
- 1945 – Clement Attlee led the Labour Party to victory over Winston Churchill's Conservative Party, a 12.0% swing from the Conservatives to Labour. Labour won 393 seats while the Conservative Party were left with 197.
- 1983 - Margaret Thatcher led the Conservative Party to win a landslide victory with 397 seats and a majority of 144 seats, while the Labour Party led by Michael Foot won 209 seats. Additionally in the popular vote the party finished just two points ahead of the SDP–Liberal Alliance. However, they receive far more seeds due to the first past the post system.
- 1997 – Tony Blair led the Labour Party to win a first landslide victory with 418 seats and gained an overall majority of 179 while the Conservative Party led by John Major won 165 seats. The swing from the Conservatives to Labour was 10.2% and was the second biggest general election victory of the 20th Century after 1931.
- 2001 – Tony Blair led the Labour Party to win a second landslide victory with 412 seats and retained an overall majority of 167 while the Conservative Party led by William Hague won 166 seats, making Tony Blair the first Labour Prime Minister to serve two consecutive full terms in office.
- 2019 – Boris Johnson led the Conservative Party to win a landslide victory with 365 seats and a majority of 80 seats, while the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn won 202 seats. The election led to 54 Labour seats changing to Conservative predominantly in the Midlands and Northern England – some of which had been held by Labour since the first half of the 20th century.
- 2024 – Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to win a landslide victory with 411 seats and a majority of 172 seats, while the Conservative Party led by Rishi Sunak won 121 seats
United States
- 1928 – Herbert Hoover received 444 of the electoral votes while Al Smith received only 87.
- 1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt received 472 of the electoral votes while Herbert Hoover received only 59.
- 1936 – Franklin D. Roosevelt received 523 of the electoral votes—the largest share since 1820 and the largest in a non-unanimous election—while Alf Landon received only 8. Additionally, Roosevelt received 60.8% of the popular vote.
- 1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt received 449 of the electoral votes while Wendell Willkie received only 82.
- 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt received 432 of the electoral votes while Thomas E. Dewey received only 99.
- 1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower received 442 of the electoral votes while Adlai Stevenson II received only 89.
- 1956 – Dwight D. Eisenhower received 457 of the electoral votes while Adlai Stevenson II received only 73.
- 1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson received 486 of the electoral votes while Barry Goldwater received only 52. Additionally, Johnson received 61.1% of the popular vote.
- 1972 – Richard Nixon received 520 of the electoral votes while George McGovern received only 17. One Republican elector voted for John Hospers of the Libertarian Party. Additionally, Nixon received 60.7% of the popular vote.
- 1980 – Ronald Reagan received 489 of the electoral votes while Jimmy Carter received only 49.
- 1984 – Ronald Reagan received 525 of the electoral votes while Walter Mondale received only 13. Additionally, Reagan received 58.8% of the popular vote.
- 1988 – George H. W. Bush received 426 of the electoral votes while Michael Dukakis received only 111.
- 1996 – Bill Clinton received 379 of the electoral votes while Bob Dole received 159 and Ross Perot of the Reform Party of [the United States of America|Reform Party] received none.